The use of wireless technology has become prevalent in today's society. For instance, many individuals use cellular phones to communicate with others. Some cellular phones are also equipped with applications that allow users to have immediate access to their email as well as the Internet, thereby allowing the user to, for instance, access the latest news, check stock quotes, and perform other activities. Furthermore, many homes, businesses and workplaces have become equipped with wireless networks that enable users to connect to an intranet and/or the Internet.
In still yet another example, gaming systems can be equipped with wireless capabilities such that users of a gaming system can employ controllers that are in wireless communication with a gaming device. For instance, depression of a button or a particular motion can be transmitted from a controller to the gaming system.
When transmitting or receiving data by way of a wireless connection, antennas are employed to resonate at a set frequency such that the antenna emits radiation that is encoded with signals over a geographic region. Pursuant to an example, a wireless router may include one or more antennas that are employed to emit radiation that is intended to reach one or more rooms of a building. Conventional wireless routers employ standard monopole antennas which can only provide omni-directional radiation (e.g., radiation in the shape of a circle) with achievable antenna gains between two and seven dBi. Accordingly, placement of the wireless router and the antenna(s) therein becomes important in order to substantially maximize an amount of data that can be transmitted between the router and a receiving (wireless) device. In addition, for antennas on a lower end of an achievable gain scale (e.g., two to four dBi), more power must be input to the antenna in order to transmit a signal when compared to power input for antennas on a higher end of an achievable gain scale. Moreover, conventional wireless routers do not optimize use of power, as they transmit in a three hundred sixty degree area even when a single user or a relatively small group of users reside in a particular region (e.g., a relatively small subset of the 360 degrees). In other words, the wireless antenna emits radiation in regions of a room or building where no users reside.